03 February 2024 , 19:33
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Jon Rahm has had say on the party atmosphere he was greeted with on the first tee of his LIV Golf debut at Mayakoba in Friday's opening round.
Rahm made his first appearance on the breakaway circuit following his £450million move to the LIV setup last December. The Spaniard was given the honour of beginning the season opener on the first tee in Friday's shotgun start alongside 2023 champion Talor Gooch and Cam Smith.
And the Masters champion was given a typical LIV Golf welcome, with the speakers pumping out the Spaniard's song of choice as he sent his first hole tee shot down the fairway.
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LIV's decision to play music across the first tee and over some of its greens has split opinion in the world of golf, and whilst it was a different experience to what Rahm is used to professionally, it did bring some memories back. "It's definitely a little different vibe, but I quite enjoy the music," he said post-round.
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"It's not too different to how we play at home. A lot of us have -- especially the people I play with, have golf carts with some pretty powerful speakers. If anything it was low compared to what I'm used to. Yeah, it was great, plus I got paired with two of the nicest people you can get paired with. Talor and Cam are extremely nice."
Having been given the chance to pick his opening tee shot tune, Rahm was hoping his choice would relieve some pressure when stood over his ball, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. "I could feel the pressure, but it's a good thing, right?" he added.
"It's weird; you do get to pick a song for the first tee, and I thought maybe it was going to help. If anything, it gave it a little bit more -- the heartbeat went a little bit up just from hearing a song you like. I'm like, I feel confident, but the added pressure that it's one of my favorite songs, but it helped because I hit a great tee shot to start the day.
"I felt it, but after the tee shot and the second shot and making that putt, it felt like I settled in pretty nicely." On the back of the pre-shot nerves it went on to be a succesful debut round for the Legion XIII captain, who carded a five-under-par 66 across his opening 18 holes.
Things could have been even better for Rahm, who made seven birdies without a blemish on the card through 16 holes. The Spaniard did however stumble at 17, and 18, finishing with two frustrating birdies to leave him seven shots behind early pace setter Joaquin Niemann.
Leader Nieamnn stole the show in Mexico, carding a 12-under 59 to become only the second player in LIV history to break 60 after Bryson DeChambeau at Greenbrier last summer. The Chilean holds a five-shot lead over Patrick Reed heading into the weekend.